The importance of choosing the correct colour scheme for your interiors can’t be over-emphasised, since it not only ensures your home is on trend, it also reflects your personality.
The colours used within your home can impact the mood and ambience of your living space and as well as changing its appearance, a new colour scheme can influence how you feel at home. Whether you’re trying to add energy to a dull room, calm down a hectic one, or do anything in between, the colour scheme plays a vital role in creating your desired effect.
Even before interior decorating became something of an art form, people associated colour with moods and feelings. Religious artists creating stained glass windows used blue to represent heavenly faith and green to represent hope, nature and fertility.
Find out what these shades say about your home:
Warm red
When it comes to designing interiors, red is associated with energy, warmth, passion and adventure. It promotes lively, sociable feelings and is said to stimulate the appetite, so it’s best for areas such as the dining room, where people are likely to sit around the table, eating and socialising.
On the downside, it can be overpowering if used excessively. Interior designers suggest varying the shade throughout the room in terms of the walls and accessories. Alternatively, just paint one wall red and paint the others a contrasting colour or use red accessories to enhance walls in a different shade. Experts advise never painting a baby’s room red, as it can be too stimulating.
Pretty in pink
Associated with love, pink is a great colour for bedrooms. Pale pink is a restful, peaceful shade that should help you drift off into a peaceful slumber. If you use a darker shade of pink, such as fuchsia, it is seen as passion-inducing.
On the downside, some men (and women) think pink is a rather “girlie” shade for a room and find it rather sickly-sweet if used in abundance. A good remedy for this is to have shades of contrasting charcoal grey or black in the room.
Reassuring orange
Orange is associated with warmth, reassurance and stability. It is considered a great shade for living rooms and dining rooms. However, it is best not to use it in the bedroom, as it has too much energy and can keep you awake.
Another pitfall is that it can make a room appear smaller, so it’s best used in larger rooms that get plenty of light, as it can make a small room feel a little claustrophobic, especially if it doesn’t get a lot of light.
Calming green
Associated with nature and energy, green creates a calming and restful ambience and is popular for living rooms and bedrooms. It can also be used for baby’s bedrooms, as it promotes feelings of tranquillity.
However, too much green can create a repose overload and once you’re settled in the room, it can make you feel so laid back, you won’t want to move again! Make it a little punchier by having contrasting red or orange to counteract this feeling of excess complacency.
Soothing blue
As a soothing, calming shade that promotes thinking, blue represents serenity, protection and loyalty. It is believed to be a good colour for bedrooms, studies and bathrooms, the latter because it’s associated with water.
However, if you’re thinking of painting your room blue, remember it can be a rather cold shade and if it’s too pale, the room can look chilly. Try and choose a shade with warm undertones if you’re planning to paint all the walls blue.
Sunshine yellow
Yellow is associated with the sun and therefore it is seen as stimulating energy. Interior designers believe it’s best for kitchens, dining rooms and north-facing rooms. Its sunny shade is ideal for spaces in which you’ll be socialising.
Not great for bedrooms, yellow doesn’t promote a feeling of restfulness and it can even create emotional distress if used in the wrong place.
Stress-free lilac
Lilac has long been associated with spiritual feelings and in religious artwork it is often depicted as the misty area between the sky and heaven above. It is an ideal shade for bedrooms and bathrooms, as it can create a stress-free haven.
On the downside, however, lilac can look rather bland and insipid if used on its own, so try livening it up by having contrasting black or silver accents.
Magical purple
Purple is associated with creativity, joy, fertility and magic and is a popular shade for bedrooms. It can create a blissful mood and is seen as a regal shade that suits all tastes.
However, when darker, richer shades of purple are used in abundance, it can become rather heavy and overpowering. The lighter shades are seen as more soothing and gentle, without being sugary sweet.
Rich brown
Brown is associated with practicality, security and stability and is a popular choice for living rooms. However, painting all the walls brown can be a little heavy and short on stimulation, especially if you have pieces of brown furniture as well.
For this reason, brown can be largely overlooked in interior design. It’s a great idea to introduce a lighter, livelier colour for greater stimulation, such as cream or green, for a modern look.
Dramatic black
Black is associated with drama and eccentricity. However, it is really a non-colour, in that it absorbs colour, yet reflects nothing back. Although it can look stunning, modern and dramatic, it’s best to use it in moderation, as it provokes images of teenage Goth bedrooms.
It is best used with contrasting colours such as pink, to temper the sweetness of sugary shades. Try not to use black and a base colour, as it can be depressing.
Pure white
Despite its association of purity and cleanliness, white is a colour many people avoid when it comes to interior design. More often than not, it’s associated with skirting boards and interior doors, but not many people feel the urge to paint all the walls white. However, used properly, it can create a stunning interior and is ideal for kitchens.
Start with the white as something of a blank canvas and add contrasting accessories, such as rich wooden cabinets, or marble counter tops, so that you’re not dazzled by its brightness.
Let Furniture Pack Solutions help you on your journey to the perfect home! Create a living space that promotes the relevant mood, whether you need a sleep-inducing bedroom, or a lively living room, using the relevant colour scheme, design, décor and furniture.
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